Better Pig Husbandry for Increased Production

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 90, Issue 4, 15 April 1955, Page 377

Better Pig Husbandry for Increased Production

By

A. LONGWILL,

Superintendent, Pig Industry, Department of Agriculture, Wellington

USUALLY pig numbers are greatly reduced at this time of year because of the failing supply of dairy by-products for feed. Consequently it is a time when a good deal of preparatory work can be done to improve husbandry and future returns. Every opportunity should. be taken to ensure that all pigs which can be finished before the end of the season are sold at profitable weights. Any spare time can be well occupied with improvements to housing and working facilities at the piggery. Sows farrowing during May and ■June can be given the attention they warrant and careful management and observation 'before and after farrowing will help to ensure a good crop of pigs and hence a foundation for increased production in the coming season.

PROBLEMS in the piggery just now usually have some connection with /the failing food supply for the pigs. 'The breeding stock can still do quite well on grass and a small amount of milk or concentrates, but the pigs from summer litters are not just at the right ■stage and are “hanging fire”. The problem is should they be finished, carried -over as stores, or sold as underweight porkers or stores. Porkers Should be Taken over 60lb. Store markets vary locally and it is impossible to dogmatise on what is the best course to follow. Generally, however, at this period the price of store

pigs is well below pork schedule and it will pay to take pigs born up to early February to pork weight before the end of the dairying season. There is a substantial discount, usually not less than 3d. per lb:, on porkers under 601 b. and even though the lower schedule now ruling for export porkers does not leave much scope for the purchase of meals, the prices of which have not been reduced correspondingly, use of meals is still not economically impossible. , A cheap source of food to replace the failing dairy by-product supply will help and is indispensable to the most economic solution of this problem and no source readily available to most

farmers is more suitable than a homegrown crop of fodder beet. Pigs Fatten on 2 Food Units per Day . Practical trials have shown, that satisfactory results may be obtained in finishing porkers to 1001 b. liveweight (or more if desired) on 1 gallon of skimmed milk and lib. of meal per day with fodder beet to appetite. Actually no milk is necessary as long as the meal fed contains adequate protein, but at least 2 food units (1 food unit = lib. of meal or 1 gallon of skimmed milk) per pig daily of concentrate-quality food must be fed. Higher levels of meal feeding are sometimes recommended overseas, but in comparative trials carried out last year the growth obtained on the feeding level quoted was as good as that where double the rate of meal was used. The economic limit with meal would appear to be lib. per pig per day where 1 gallon of skimmed milk

is fed or up to 141 b. of meal when skimmed milk falls to J gallon per pig per day. In some districts the price schedule may be more attractive for baconers and where this is so and a crop is available it may be possible to take larger pigs up to baconer weight. The same amount of concentrate-quality foods only is required, increases in the fodder beet fed ad lib. taking care of the increased feed requirements. What has been said about the use of fodder beet for finishing pigs presupposes that a crop has been grown during the past season. If no crop of this quality is available (maize is suitable, though the cost of production will usually be higher per food unit produced than with fodder beet), pigs may have to be sacrificed. This should serve to stimulate the necessary action of ordering seed and fertiliser and preparing the ground for a crop next year.. One acre well manured and cultivated will produce 30 tons of fodder beet, enough supplementary food for 5 sows farrowing in May/June, 1 boar, and 10 store pigs being carried over to deal with the early flush of milk. New Buildings If new buildings will be required to enable the pigs budgeted for next season to be handled and fattened efficiently, no time should be lost in getting these erected. Concrete work especially should be finished before frosts begin and holes in the pig runs should be filled with gravel, sand, pumice, or sawdust before wet weather makes them mud holes again. During the last year new pighouse plans have been developed and. published and these are available through the Department of Agriculture or pig councils. Farmers are advised to study the recently approved plans before going ahead with a building programme. Improvement to Buildings Existing buildings could, in many cases, be made more efficient. Sarking of roofs or lining of houses to increase their resistance to the transfer of heat both outward in cold weather and inward in hot, addition of shutters to give greater control over ventilation, and relaying of sleeping floors with coke breeze or other lightweight aggregate to increase their insulating capacity are

the most useful improvements after the more obvious repairs to leaks and draughty walls have been attended to. The installation of a heat lamp brooder placed 7in. forward of the central position in an existing Bft. x Bft. farrowing house can be a successful arrangement, though generally it is recommended that at least one farrowing house on the round ground plan should be built. Plans of this type of house are available on request. Sows could be farrowed in turn in the round house and transferred to one of the existing farrowing houses when necessary to make room for the next sow. Improving Handling Facilities Where good handling facilities . including draughting yards, crush race and head bail, weighing crate, loading ramp, and foot bath are not already installed the erection of such facilities before next season will be a very good investment. The exact layout of such amenities is very much an individual

problem depending on each layout and site. A plan showing one layout of yards was published in the July 1954 issue of the “Journal”. This may give some idea of how the problem may be tackled on each farm, but the assistance of an advisory officer with a wide experience of planning such layouts may be sought to overcome particular problems. The essentials to aim at in planning the yards are:— A connecting race should provide easy access from each pig house to the yards. A holding yard leading either directly or through weighing or crush race to the loading ramp, which preferably should have a covered holding pen on a loading platform. Weighing race with crate and scales. Yard space for holding pigs after weighing, etc. This should preferably be subdivided and a draughting gate provided to enable pigs to be

draughted back to the pens or out to the loading ramp. Foot bath. If this is placed opposite the weighing race and the whole is roofed over, it will be most conVenient - . ' Crush race and head bail. ~,ui, . , , -n Meal house .or meal bins close to milk con ainei. . > , Preparation for Winter Farrowing The bulk of the farrowings for the start of the new production season should occur in the next month or two and all the necessary preparations for this should be in hand. In the arrangement of farrowing dates the best policy is to farrow sows over a fairly concentrated period 6 weeks ahead of the calving period of the dairy herd. Where maiden sows . are being brought into the herd they should be among the first to farrow. They must be -accustomed to being handled and be put into their farrowing quarters a fortnight before the due dates so that they will have settled down. Over this period, too, the ration should be gradually increased rather than have a too rapid increase after farrowing. . Maiden sows will generally not be so fat that feeding before farrowing will be undesirable. If older sows have become too fat, there is no need to

hand feed them before farrowing, but they should have free run out from the farrowing house and be encoura § ed to take exercise. Pregnant sows are liable to become constipated and a careful watch on the state of. their bowels is necessary to avoid losses at farrowing. Inclusion of bran in the ration at thi f time has long been advocated, but supplies are not readily available to pig farmers today. Grazing on good grass or other greenfeed is a more satisfactory policy for North Island dairy farmers. Addition of a little molasses to the liquid feed will assist and in more difficult cases medicinal paraffin may be used as an intestinal lubricant ' \ ... When little milk is available the addition of 2oz. of a mineral mixture P er da y to the sow’s ration is advisable. A simple mixture is 40 steamed boneflour : 40 ground limestone : 20 salt ad parts by weight) with the addition of 2oz. of potassium iodide per lQOlb. of mixture where the birth of hairless pigs indicates that this mineral , s necessary. . It is well known that some sows will farrow out where there is good cover and they ? can ™ ake a and rear all their piglets. Almost all farmers, however, have had the experience (though they may prefer to forget it), of sows

farrowing out at this time of the year and losing all their litters through chilling or even drowning in pools. As & Qf of the optimum conditions for survival o baby pigs there can be no doubt that the sow should b confined in , . in , . , „ . house specially designed for farrowing. t is no use bringing her in only a day or so before farrowing. She must have time to settle down and shortly before farrowing starts the heat lamp should be brought into use. A warmed zone in a near-central position (as in the round farrowing house) maintained at 75 to 77 degrees F is - the b t in • ance against losses at farrowing: If the sow becomes excitable as farrowing approaches, it may be necessary to fix a do or across the entrance to close her in the house T x x, pigieus om wandering past the entrance to the warmed zone, wooden blocks should also be placed on each side of the baffle before farrowing begins, Reduced Ration , tf the condition of the sow has been built up in early pregnancy and maintained throughout, she will not suffer Jut n the contrary benefit, from a reduction of her ration for a couple of days before and after farrowing. The ration should be laxative and exercise

with free access to grass and drinking water should be provided. If available pasture is of poor quality, other green or root feed should be provided in controlled quantities at up to 201 b. per day. This amount of fodder beet together with 21b. of bran or pollard per day with a gallon or so of milk, if available, will be an adequate daily ration for a few days before farrowing. On the day of farrowing and for - 24 hours after all solid food should be withdrawn unless a light bran mash is available. Plenty of clean drinking water should be offered. Watch on Sow Careful observation of the sow to ensure that no complications occur is essential. Milk fever, if it occurs, usually develops suddenly and an early injection under the loose skin of elbow and flank of calcium boro-gluconate may be necessary to save the sow. Milk fever may usually be distinguished from other conditions which may sometimes be confused with it by the fact that the sow’s temperature is normal (102.5 degrees F.) or slightly subnormal. Abortion may occur and if it appears that this has not been due to accident, sudden change of diet, or sickness of

the sow, professional assistance should be sought to diagnose whether some specific infection is responsible and if so, to advise on the best method of dealing with the problem. If the afterbirth is not properly expelled, a full dose of opening medicine should be given and if this is not effective, veterinary assistance should be. summoned to clear up the trouble and avoid infection of the womb. This organ may occasionally be everted as a result of straining after farrowing due to pains or constipation or through the attached afterbirth being trampled on. This is a serious accident which usually ends in death, unless the organ is promptly replaced. The sow must be suspended by the hind legs and the everted womb thoroughly cleaned before it is returned to its normal position. Two or three tape stitches should be inserted and after the organ has had a chance to contract and become more comfortable, in say i hour, the. sow may be released. Unless considerable delay would be entailed it is advisable to secure a veterinarian for this operation. ' ■ Mastitis may occur after farrowing. Close examination is warranted if the udder appears tender and the sow refuses to allow the pigs to suckle, and

veterinary treatment should be given without delay. As the sow does not have a single teat canal, it is not possible to inject penicillin direct as is done in the treatment of mastitis in COWS.. . ■ Gradual swelling of one or more quarters may be due to actinomycosis or tuberculosis and a veterinary diagnosis should be obtained. Sows which are fat at farrowing but which draw on this fat in feeding their litters may develop a disorder known as acidosis. An affected sow becomes dull, loses appetite, becomes constipated, and . “fades away”, becoming very sluggish. As soon as the first symptoms appear , and the litter are evidently not getting their reasonable amount of feed from the sow 21b. of molasses should be included in. the sow’s daily ration and the amount of concentrate, particularly maize or other grain, should be increased. If this does not effect early improvement, veterinary advice should be sought without delay.

High-altitude Snow Tussock Grassland in the South Island

THE. Tussock Grassland. Research Committee published in the December 1954 issue of the. Agricultural Section of the Journal of Science and Technology its review of the highaltitude snow tussock grassland of the South Island. This review summarises what is known of the scientific aspects of high-altitude snow tussock grassland. The review has been reprinted and free copies are available on request from the Department of Scientific. and Industrial Research, Wellington, and from the offices of the Department of Agriculture at Blenheim, Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, and Dunedin. • ■